Alexander DeVol

Artist

Alex is an artist / designer / maker investigating the material properties of wood. He sculpts material from recently felled logs that are high in moisture and still yet to undergo a dramatic process of change. Once sculpted and given the appropriate conditions Alex’s forms continue to morph and change into new organic shapes as they dry. The final outcome is an object sculpted collaboratively by both maker and material. Much of Alex’s work is conceived in wood but then continued into new materials, allowing him to highlight the details most indicative of the tree by juxtaposing them with the textures and colours of a contrasting material.

What influence does music have in your life as a creative?:

It definitely has an effect on my mood and that in turn influences me at work. In a studio or in front of the computer it’s second nature for most designers to have music on while you work, but my work now is noisy, requires really acute concentration, and obviously my woodwork tools and lathe don’t have speakers built in so I rarely have anything on while I work. It took me a while to realise how badly I missed music, being in solitude all day can be weird but silence is weirder. I particularly missed discovering new music, no matter how big my collection or whether or not I have a streaming account I’m going to get sick of my own choices if I’m put in charge of the playlist every day, so I got a DAB radio for the car and the house so I could listen to BBC6 and I make sure I have music on most of the time in the house now, it makes a big difference.

Tell us about your playlist:

There’s no story to it, just some songs that hold nostalgia for me and so are likely ones that I’ll always listen to. I’ve tried to create some semblance of order but you may feel otherwise!